Thursday, September 8, 2011

1. I'm super excited for the private shopping party tonight! I really hope we get a good turnout (please come!). And I really hope the boutique has lots of cute things for me to buy. You know, because I need more things. Duh.

2. Why is it that short work weeks feel 10 times longer than a normal 5 day work week? Seriously, will this week ever end? How is it possibly only Thursday? Come on!

3. What the hell is Scentsy? I don't even care enough to Google it.

4. Some friends and I are starting a Supper Club. We're going to rotate hosting responsibilities and get together every other month. I'm so excited for this! Are any of you in a Supper Club? How does it work for you guys?

5. I really miss The Gilmore Girls. I'm dying to know what Rory's up to these days, how Lane's doing with the twins, if Logan is in prison or rehab, and whether or not Luke ever pulled his head out of his ass and made an honest woman out of Lorelai. I miss them all so much!

6. Sage is going on her first duck hunt on Sunday with Ryan. I'm really excited and nervous for her. I hope she does well and likes it.

7. Did you hear that Reese Witherspoon got hit by a car? What?

8. I cannot stop thinking about Italy. Dreaming of Italy. Longing for Italy. I can taste it. It's delicious.

9. I saw The Help over the weekend and really liked it. I liked the movie more than I liked the book, which never happens. I wasn't as in love with the book as everyone else seemed to be, but I thought the movie was really great. What did you think?

10. Pumpkin spice latte. That's all.

11. Can you believe I did a post with no pictures? What the world coming to?!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hi friends! I'm going to interrupt the beach dog posts for a minute and touch on something that's really been gnawing on me lately. The latest and greatest attempt to raise breast cancer awareness on Facebook by women posting status updates where they pretend to be pregnant. I've been thinking about writing something about this for a while because it has bothered me so much, but I just couldn't come up with the right thing to say. And then I read a post on the subject that my good friend Jenn wrote. With her permission, I'd like to repost that for you here.

Even though I haven't seen any of these posts for a few days, a friend's recent post coupled with some lively discussion on a discussion board I follow has prompted me to write this. My apologies for the lack of timeliness. Deal with it. :)

So the most recent "breast cancer awareness" game on facebook has been to post a random week and a craving, pretending that you are pregnant and are having a craving for some junk food. Now, I realize that this seems like it is all fun and games. And I won't be nearly so eloquent or vehement as some of the very well-written blogs I have read on the subject. But, here are my two cents.

When you are dealing with infertility, and someone jokes about being pregnant, it hurts. You may not understand if you've never had trouble getting pregnant, but trust me, it hurts.

So, on Facebook, we are encouraged to show support for a percentage of the female population while humiliating/embarrassing/angering another percentage of the "couple" population. How is that helpful? How does that promote breast cancer awareness? What about the women and men of reproductive age that have cancer, and as a direct result of their life-saving treatments, become infertile? Fertility preservation and fertility rescue is pretty new and not available to most cancer patients. I would think that, if someone lost their ability to have a child because of breast cancer, they may not feel supported by a Facebook status where someone pretends to be pregnant.

Infertility is one of those issues that almost no one ever talks about. And it's a real shame. And yes, as a society we do tend to be hypersensitive to too many things. But please, for the love of all things lovable, please think before you post. Does posting "I'm 25 weeks and craving chocolate" or something similar really help spread awareness about breast cancer? Or does it maybe confuse your friends and family, and hurt the hearts of your friends who cannot have a child or another child? You may not know that they are dealing with infertility, because more likely than not they haven't advertised the fact. But, 10-15% of couples is a large enough part of the population that I can almost guarantee that several of your facebook friends are infertile.

Breast cancer is a terrible thing. But please, don't try to support one part of the population while being insensitive to another part.

I don't mean to get all preachy on you, but PLEASE think before you post, this type of thing really hurts.

And if you really want to support breast cancer, I've got an idea for you...if you're in St. Louis, how about stopping by Paperdolls Boutique in Kirkwood tomorrow night for a private shopping party, hosted by yours truly and my good friend Jenna (a breast cancer survivor), where a percentage of all sales will go directly towards breast cancer research.

Feel free to stop by the boutique (located at 110 East Jefferson Ave in Kirkwood) between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 8th. We'll have champagne and dessert for you. No obligation to buy anything. Just swing by and say hi and maybe give a small donation to our cause. Wear something pink to raise awareness!

If you can make it, please click HERE to RSVP. I'd love to see you all!